HEADLINES & NEWS
The junior doctors industrial dispute has taken a step closer to settlement in 18 of the country's public hospitals, but there is a question over whether doctors in Auckland intend to strike in two weeks. After delaying a promised announcement yesterday, the Chief Executives of the 18 hospitals have decided to accept a deal hammered out between their representatives and the junior doctors over the last couple of days. Doctors in Waikato have responded by calling off their current strike which was due to end on Monday. Mark Flowers heads Healthcare Hawkes Bay, and is the spokesperson for the 18 hospitals - he won't go into the details of the package, except to say that the pay increases are staggered to make it easier for the hospitals to pay. I asked him which [illegible] doctors the package benfits most. PREREC
We're joined now by our health correspondent, Rae Lamb...LIVE
The Government is to spend millions of dollars training doctors and other health professionals to recognise the signs of of child abuse and encourage them to report it to the welfare authorities. This follows information from the Child, Youth and Family that many doctors claim ACC money for children who have been abused but very few notify the department. I asked the health minister, Annette King if she found this strange. PREREC
BUSINESS NEWS with GILES BECKFORD
Work and Income New Zealand has promised students there will be a big improvement in the way the student loan scheme is administered next year. Many students didn't receive any money to pay for rent or food at the start of the acadmic year when Winz took over the administration of student loans. Today a representative of the department told university students at their annual conference in Dunedin, that next year will be better. Graham McKerracher has [illegible] at the conference and he joins me now. LIVE
The Militia leaders in West Timor have warned the United Nations staff in the capital Kupang they must withdraw by Monday or face the consequences. Monday is the anniversary of the announcement of the result of last year's ballot on independence in East Timor. The office of the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor in Kupang which liaises between Dili and the Kupang local government has received a list of demands from the militia leaders. The militia leaders under the umbrella of UNTAS are calling for East Timor to be divided into two sections, one for those in favour of independence and one for those who support autonomy. The head of the UNTAET office in Kupang Timothy Hudner says although they are taking the threats seriously, they are not going to comply with the demands. I asked him how they were delivered. PREREC
The Minister of Defence, Mark Burton, has rejected the idea of a joint defence force with Australia. The suggestion has come from a senior Australian politician, Sandy Macdonald - a National Party senator who chairs the Senate's foreign affairs and defence legislation committee. He says a joint ANZAC force would produce the best bang for the defence dollar, but as Clare Pasley reports, neither Labour nor National here would consider a merger. PKGE
5.30 NEWS HEADLINES
SPORT with RICHARD CROWLEY
The number of police investigating two homicides in Palmerston North has been increased to 40. Police are still searching the area around the Karamea Crescent house where the bodies of a woman and her seven year old daughter were found on Wednesday. Police have still not officially identified the pair, but are working on the assumption that they were Christine Marie Lundy and Amber Lundy. I asked Detective Sergeant Peter Rollinson whether they have ruled out any suspects at this stage. PREREC
Fiji's Great Council of Chiefs has ignored international warnings, and protests at home, over the ditching of the country's multi-racial constitution and announced it IS going ahead with drawing up a new document. After two days of meetings, the chiefs have approved a 12 member committee which will produce a new constitution to replace the 1997 one which for the first time allowed a Fiji Indian Prime Minister.
The 97 constitution also removed the guaranteed Parliamentary majority Indigenous Fijians had previously enjoyed. Our reporter Shalen Shandil says there will be four Indo-Fijians helping draw up the new constitution but they still have not been named. PREREC
Auckland International Airport has announced its second consecutive record proft, but the result has not pleased airlines and passengers who will have to pay more to use the airport.
The company says it made an after tax profit of 51 million dollars for the year to June, up 20 percent on the previous year. Auckland City Council holds 25 percent of the Airport with smaller stakes held by Manukau City Council, Singapore's Changi Airport and over 55 thousand small shareholders. Barbara Dreaver has more. PKGE
Around 900 academic and general staff at Massey University's three campuses have been on strike today in protest over the latest pay offer from management. Massey University is offering a one and a quarter percent pay rise, which the [illegible] of University Staff says is insulting. Last minute talks between management and representatives of the combined unions yesterday failed to avert the strike, and staff today picketed campus entrances in Palmerston North, Albany and Wellington. This is what some of the staff on the picket line at the Palmerston North campus had to say. CUT Joining us now are Massey University's vice-chancellor James McWha and Karen Rhodes who is the spokesperson for the joint union industrial action committee. LIVE WITH CUT IN HEAD
The mother of the convicted child abuser Peter Ellis says he is shattered by the six month delay in the inquiry into his case. Ellis was convicted of abusing children at the Christchurch Civic Creche and while the Court of Appeal twice found there was no miscarriage of justice in his trial, it said some matters needed further investigation. The retired Chief Justice, Sir Thomas Eichelbaum has been carrying out the Ministerial inquiry and was originally due to report his findings yesterday. But he has asked for a six month extension to consult international experts in mass allegations of child sexual abuse. John MacDonald has been gauging reaction to the extension. PKGE
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